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Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Japanese Style Cheese Breads

After baking and enjoying our Hokkaido milk toast made with the very-popular Tang Zhong (汤种) recipe from Christine's recipes, I like to try baking another Christine's bread recipe again. Amongst all, I really keen to bake her first Tang Zhong bread recipe which initiated most Asian bakers' belief that Tang Zhong bread baking method can produce softer bread. If you are new to Tang Zhong (汤种), you may wish to refer to my Hokkaido milk toast post for its definition.

This Christine's cheese bread recipe that I'm using is quite similar to the Hokkaido milk toast that I baked previously but this one contains one extra egg and has NO cream. Although I concluded that the use of Tang Zhong to produce softer breads is plausible, I like stick on to Christine's recipe rather than re-inverting the wheel. Why are these breads related to Japanese? I asked myself this question too... According to Christine, Japanese breads are typically soft and fluffy and this is the kind of texture that these breads will be.

To bake my soft and fluffy breads ultimately nice, I like to have my breads as cheesy as possible. Cheesy... in term of cheesy-stretchy, cheesy-tasty and cheesy-loaded but in a right balance. For my initial bakes, I have loaded tall stack of 200g grated mozzarella cheese into each loaf, thinking that mozzarella is a good choice being not too greasy, not too rich and stretchy fun to eat. Are these breads cheesy enough for us???

True enough that we love these mozzarella breads... I was feeling lots of oooh and aaah while snapping the last photos of these cheesy stretchy breads and feeling tortured too that I can only eat them after these photo shots.

Dad: Can you bake these breads with gruyère cheese the next time?Boy: You failed, mummy! We want gruyère cheese!Mum, speechless for a while: ... ok!

Are these breads cheesy enough for us? Obviously NOT enough for my husband and son! - my two cheeky fussy fellows!

For my husband and son, I baked two loaves of these breads again!!! For my second bake, I have baked the breads with 120g of gruyère cheese in each loaf... True enough, both breads can be different with different cheese fillings in their taste and texture. The mozzarella one is super cheesy loaded and the gruyère one is wonderfully salty and flavoursome. Honestly, I think both are equally good but my husband and son prefer the ones with gruyère cheese. They said that these gruyère cheese breads are unforgettably GOOD!

Mix flour in milk well without any lumps. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring consistently with a wooden spoon, whisk or spatula to prevent burning and sticking while you cook along the way.

The mixture becomes thicker and thicker. Once you notice some “lines” appear in the mixture for every stir you make with the spoon, this is the Tang Zhong. You might use a thermometer to check the temperature but this simple method has worked for Christine every time.

Remove from heat. Transfer into a clean bowl. Cover with a cling wrap sticking onto the surface of Tang Zhong to prevent from drying up. Let it cool completely. Tang Zhong can be used straight away once it cools down to room temperature. Measure out the amount you need. The leftover Tang Zhong can be stored in fridge up to days until next use. Chilled Tang Zhong should return to room temperature before adding into other ingredients

Add all ingredients into a bread-maker, first the wet ingredients (water, egg and Tang Zhong), then followed by the dry ingredients (bread flour, milk powder, sugar, salt, butter and yeast).

Using a bread maker with "dough" setting or an electric mixer with a dough hook, mix bread dough ingredients together and knead into a smooth and elastic dough. Allow dough to prove for 1-2 hr or until doubled in size.

Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape. Sprinkle cheese evenly as much as you like. Roll from the upper shorter end of the dough down to the bottom. Arrange the rolled-up dough with their seam sides down in a greased loaf tins.Allow the dough to prove for another 1 hr or until the height of the loaves extends out of the loaf tins. Brush milk on surface and sprinkle some extra cheese on top. Bake in a pre-heated oven, 180°C (or 160°C fan forced) for 35 to 40 mins. Remove from the oven and tin. Transfer onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Slice to serve or place in an airtight plastic bag or container when the loaves are thoroughly cooled.

Both bread look so good! The crumbs look so soft. Let's talk about my excessive drooling whilst reading this post... ok, let's not. I am intrigued with the Tang Zhong. I look forward to trying this method. Thanks for sharing.

Zoe, these look crazy good!My parents used to take us to a li'l Danish village near Santa Barbara called Solvang. One bakery was famous for a poppyseed-cheese bread. Mom & I used to eat a whole loaf while strolling past the shops! It was addictive. Sadly, they don't bake the bread anymore. But, now I might! Happy 2014! xo

Hi Zoe,Lovely bread! My kids would love this, they love anything with cheese and with any cheese! I have to try gruyere one of these days, but it is pretty expensive!A cup of hot coffee would be lovely with these breads! Yum!

Hi Zoe, just wanted to say that I tried this recipe with my two boys last night and the bread turned out wonderfully! Easily the fluffiest bread we’ve baked using the bread maker. And quite a tough recipe too, given that my boys were quite “rough” handling the dough.

Just a note also - butter seems to have been excluded from the list of wet ingredients to add.